What Does John 2:18 Mean?
Then the Jews answered him, What sign will you point out to us, since you do these things?
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?THE KEY
“Sign” carries the sense of a marker: they ask not only what Jesus does, but what his action points to.
THE MEANING
The reader hears a demand for a sign that makes authority visible: what mark shows that these actions carry weight? The verse holds open the gap between an act and its meaning; a visible action can raise the question of what it points toward.
THE ROOT
σημεῖον
sēmeion
GROWS FROM
σημ-
sēm-
mark, sign, indication
“sign” in this verse is sēmeion. The Greek word carries the sense of a mark that directs attention beyond itself. Their question asks for a visible marker that will disclose what Jesus’ actions mean.
ALSO GROWS
sēma: mark, token, sign
σῆμα
This related word makes the sign’s marking function clear: what is seen points beyond itself.
sēmainō: indicate, signify
σημαίνω
The related verb shifts attention from the visible marker to the meaning it communicates.
δεικνύεις
deiknyeis
GROWS FROM
δεικ-
deik-
show, point out, make evident
“point out” in this verse is deiknyeis. The verse pairs a sign with the act of showing: the speakers ask for the marker itself to be displayed as evidence. Their wording leaves the question open of whether a display alone can disclose what an action means.
ALSO GROWS
deigma: example, proof, sample
δεῖγμα
This related form shows how making something visible can turn it into evidence.
endeixis: demonstration, indication
ἔνδειξις
This branch joins showing with pointing something out, echoing the demand for a sign that makes the action legible.
THE PATTERN
A sign is a visible marker whose meaning lies in what it points toward.
I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be the mark of a covenant between me and the earth.And it shall come to pass, if they will not lean their weight on you, nor hear and respond to the voice of the first sign, that they will lean their weight on the voice of the latter sign.And truly Jesus did many other signs before the eyes of his disciples, which are not written in this book.THE THREAD
Jesus answered and said to them, Unbind this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.Here the question receives its answer: the sign is the temple’s destruction and raising, not a separate display. John 2:21 identifies this temple as his body, so the requested proof points to a body destroyed and raised.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us